‘Town & Country’ hosts food affair

MANILA, Philippines - There’s really something else about eating the food that you grew up with. In the words of Town & Country Philippines editor-in-chief, Yvette Fernandez, “Food is a direct link to home, it is visceral and it’s something you can appreciate with your five senses.” When Yvette lived in New York for 18 years, a home away from home was found in Cendrillon, a Filipino restaurant in SoHo run by Romy Dorotan and Amy Besa. Cendrillon has since closed and Romy and Amy have opened the acclaimed Purple Yam in Brooklyn, New York. The duo also authored the bestselling book, Memories of Philippine Kitchens, which offered a fascinating — and personal — look at Filipino cuisine and culture. In light of their return to Manila to raise awareness for Amy’s Ang Sariling Atin Culinary Heritage Institute, Town & Country found it well to plan its very first “Fabulous Food Affair” with them with the help of Fernando Aracama of Aracama and J. Gamboa of Cirkulo.

A meal and great company was shared at Town & Country’s Fabulous Food Affair “Brooklyn meets Bicol, atbp.” held at contemporary Filipino restaurant Aracama at the Fort Entertainment Center in Bonifacio Global City.

Included in the dinner for the event were meat from crabs specially flown in from Butuan served with ubod with a sauce of aligue and pumpkin, a leaf-wrapped fish from Sorsogon made with buko, freshwater shrimp and mint, organic baby back ribs from Faith Farm in Bacolod, grilled whole maya maya wrapped in pandan leaves with traditional burnt coconut sauce; and to sweeten it all, bibingka made with heirloom rice from Nueva Ecija and tarts made with chocolate from Davao. And by special request, they even served Yvette’s favorites from their old Cendrillon kitchen: Romy’s ukoy and buko pie that “have no equals anywhere in the world.”